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Three Years With The Schiit Freya + Pre-amp

TomD62 said:
How do you like your Erhard Aretha MKII? Was looking at one to pair with a MC2205. Appears to be a nice build just not a lot of information about them.
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I have the Ella. Its an Aikido design. No tone controls. Just a gain control for each channel and a master volume. People that have bought the Aretha seem to like them though. The Ella isn't offered anymore that I could see.
Tubes4hifi has one and also there are Glass Audio Aikido kits.
It's the clearest sounding preamp without sounding harsh I've ever had.
Erhard still sells a12AX7 Aikido version in a PAS chassis. I build one of those first, liked it so much I bought the Ella.
My son is using the 12AX7 version and likes it. I used Erhards boards and sourced my own chassis and had a faceplate made by Front Pannel Express.
 

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I am loving my new production Tung-Sol 6SN7GTB tubes more and more... I turned the system on and without warm up pulled up Pink Floyds remastered DSOTM on my streamer and let it go to town at an "elevated" volume. The tubes were ready to go immediately and the sound stage was incredibly wide and deep. My NOS Sylvania and RCA tubes take an hour or more to sound this nice.
 
krautmaster said:
I am loving my new production Tung-Sol 6SN7GTB tubes more and more... I turned the system on and without warm up pulled up Pink Floyds remastered DSOTM on my streamer and let it go to town at an "elevated" volume. The tubes were ready to go immediately and the sound stage was incredibly wide and deep. My NOS Sylvania and RCA tubes take an hour or more to sound this nice.
Click to expand...
If you go to youtube and look up the user Tyco Dogg, he did a bunch of videos testing various tubes in his Freya and really liked the new Tung Sol's. It's the main reason I went with them - I liked the sound more than any other of the tubes he tested. The videos are 6 years old at this point, but I think they're still interesting.
 
I'm a fan of the Tung Sol 5881 power tubes also. I have some old stock and new manufacture, I can't hear a difference. Both sound great.
 
I have been using a couple of new quads in my Freya+ : first was a set of RCA 6SN7GTB coin base (really tall bottle, 1970 date codes) and they have a lot of air on top and good mid range they are on par with my quad of modern Tong Sols. Next set is a quad of Sylvania 6SN7GTB coin base (medium bottle, 1972 date codes) these are fantastic- all the good highs & mids of the RCA / Tong Sol with deep/tight bass, and an overall sweeter sound. Strangely, these were kind of blah when only two were used in the buffer or gain stages, but with a quad they really came to life. If you like to tube roll I'd try a quad of these as the price is comparable to a quad of the new Tong Sols (less then $50 each).

Here is a good site with info on the different tubes available:

Octal Tubes – Vintage Tube Services

Featuring vintage octal tubes 6SN7-GT, 6SN7-GTB, 5692, 6SN7-GTA, 12SN7-GT, 6SL7, 6188 and 5691 vintage audio tubes from all the major manufactures.
vintagetubeservices.com


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krautmaster said:
I have been using a couple of new quads in my Freya+ : first was a set of RCA 6SN7GTB coin base (really tall bottle, 1970 date codes) and they have a lot of air on top and good mid range they are on par with my quad of modern Tong Sols. Next set is a quad of Sylvania 6SN7GTB coin base (medium bottle, 1972 date codes) these are fantastic- all the good highs & mids of the RCA / Tong Sol with deep/tight bass, and an overall sweeter sound. Strangely, these were kind of blah when only two were used in the buffer or gain stages, but with a quad they really came to life. If you like to tube roll I'd try a quad of these as the price is comparable to a quad of the new Tong Sols (less then $50 each).

Here is a good site with info on the different tubes available:

Octal Tubes – Vintage Tube Services

Featuring vintage octal tubes 6SN7-GT, 6SN7-GTB, 5692, 6SN7-GTA, 12SN7-GT, 6SL7, 6188 and 5691 vintage audio tubes from all the major manufactures.
vintagetubeservices.com


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I might have to try those, thanks! Also, did you install a heat sink on top of your Freya? I always thought it needed a top mount vent.
 
lokerola said:
I might have to try those, thanks! Also, did you install a heat sink on top of your Freya? I always thought it needed a top mount vent.
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I set two 3"x 6" heat sinks on top of a thermal pad there on the right side where it gets the hottest when in tube mode and they do radiate quite a bit of heat. They also pull right off, but don't slip-slide around.

Amazon.com: Nxtop Silver Tone Aluminium Radiator Heatsink Heat Sink 150x80x27mm， 6" x 3" x 1.1"(L*W*H) : Electronics

Buy Nxtop Silver Tone Aluminium Radiator Heatsink Heat Sink 150x80x27mm， 6" x 3" x 1.1"(L*W*H): Heatsinks - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
www.amazon.com
 
krautmaster said:
I set two 3"x 6" heat sinks on top of a thermal pad there on the right side where it gets the hottest when in tube mode and they do radiate quite a bit of heat. They also pull right off, but don't slip-slide around.

Amazon.com: Nxtop Silver Tone Aluminium Radiator Heatsink Heat Sink 150x80x27mm， 6" x 3" x 1.1"(L*W*H) : Electronics

Buy Nxtop Silver Tone Aluminium Radiator Heatsink Heat Sink 150x80x27mm， 6" x 3" x 1.1"(L*W*H): Heatsinks - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
www.amazon.com
Click to expand...

Got a picture of this setup? I'm kinda curious about using those.
 
I have been having trouble removing tubes from the socket savers as they barely clear the top of the case and I can't get a grip on them, so that when I try to take out a tube the socket saver keeps coming out of the Freya's socket, thus negating the idea of "Saving the Socket". My solution was to buy another set of socket savers and put them on top of the ones already in the Freya+... now I can hold onto the second one and swap the tube without issue.

Looks kind of goofy but the sound quality has not been affected at all (these are ceramic socket savers, not plastic ones) Hopefully the wife will say nothing...
socket savers 100.jpgsocket savers 101.jpg
 
Good to know. I thought it just was my bad luck when I tried socket savers and they were only saving themselves by pulling out of the original socket.
 
A new set of Sylvania 6SN7GTBs made in the 60's arrived today. I got them to go with another set of the same (going for a "quad")... put them in the gain side and one caused nasty pops every 2 minutes, the other had the top mica flaking on one side and it hisses in the gain side, but not the buffer side... Junk !

Total PIA... now I have to send them back and hope I get a workable pair in exchange (I've bought two other sets from this seller and they were both fine/sound great).

I spent two hours working on my first set of ceramic socket savers plugging one into another over and over and over to get them loose enough to be able to pull a tube out without the saver coming up out of the Freya+. Finally got them to where the tubes are snug but can be wriggled out without the saver coming along for the ride, so the silly looking double saver trick is over.
 
The replacement Sylvania Red Label 6SN7GTB tubes arrived today- they are in the gain stage of the Freya+ playing the classical FM station and sounding sweet- great mids with some "sparkle" on top . :banana:
 
THOSE ARE SOME WILD COOLING FINS! I bet they work great!!!! :bowdown:
Have not posted about my Freya + in a while…think I have had mine for 2-3 years…a LOT has changed with my preamp and my system during this time. Lots… I am here today as I am so thrilled with the sound after many tweaks. I got adventuresome with my Freya + a year ago and ripped out all of the cheap stock capacitors & resistors in the tube circuit…and replaced them with about $600 worth of audiophile grade parts. (I am handy…but never worked on a circuit board before :yikes: ..yes…there was a learning curve! …(got guidance from guys on the web..)…I also put some vents in the top plate that look like intakes on a 70's muscle car. (I have photos if anyone is interested). The sound was waaaay better!!! Have been running vintage GE 6NS7 GTBs in the gain stage.
I am TOTALLY committed to streaming..so after the Freya supercharging…over the last year I did a LOT of tweaking to the streaming part of my system (won't get into that here)…I did not throw tons of money at it…but with each change I accomplished small incremental improvements. I also just built my own Roon Server using an Intel NUC. …Roon is FANTASTIC! …
…so back to the Freya…(I researched a lot)..and decided to go for the gusto and ordered two new Treasure Globe 6SN7-SE GF tubes from Grant Fidelity in Canada. (I'm in Jersey)..
$450 shipped…GULP!…took 2 weeks to get here..I thought that I had made a HUGE mistake upon first few hours of listening :dunno:……but my reading said that I had to get AT LEAST 100 hours on them before the magic happens. I have had "mixed” experiences with "burn-in claims" in all areas of our hobby…some bullshit…some profound….MAN O MAN did the sound change a lot from first listen when new! Amazing! I am in Sonic Heaven this weekend having accomplished the burn-in. It’s literally transformed my system! :rflmao:
 
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PomMarantz said:
THOSE ARE SOME WILD COOLING FINS! I bet they work great!!!! :bowdown:
Have not posted about my Freya + in a while…think I have had mine for 2-3 years…a LOT has changed with my preamp and my system during this time. Lots… I am here today as I am so thrilled with the sound after many tweaks. I got adventuresome with my Freya + a year ago and ripped out all of the cheap stock capacitors & resistors in the tube circuit…and replaced them with about $600 worth of audiophile grade parts. (I am handy…but never worked on a circuit board before :yikes: ..yes…there was a learning curve! …(got guidance from guys on the web..)…I also put some vents in the top plate that look like intakes on a 70's muscle car. (I have photos if anyone is interested). The sound was waaaay better!!! Have been running vintage GE 6NS7 GTBs in the gain stage.
I am TOTALLY committed to streaming..so after the Freya supercharging…over the last year I did a LOT of tweaking to the streaming part of my system (won't get into that here)…I did not throw tons of money at it…but with each change I accomplished small incremental improvements. I also just built my own Roon Server using an Intel NUC. …Roon is FANTASTIC! …
…so back to the Freya…(I researched a lot)..and decided to go for the gusto and ordered two new Treasure Globe 6SN7-SE GF tubes from Grant Fidelity in Canada. (I'm in Jersey)..
$450 shipped…GULP!…took 2 weeks to get here..I thought that I had made a HUGE mistake upon first few hours of listening :dunno:……but my reading said that I had to get AT LEAST 100 hours on them before the magic happens. I have had "mixed” experiences with "burn-in claims" in all areas of our hobby…some bullshit…some profound….MAN O MAN did the sound change a lot from first listen when new! Amazing! I am in Sonic Heaven this weekend having accomplished the burn-in. It’s literally transformed my system! :rflmao:
Click to expand...

Did you get your inspiration from the big Freya thread over at head-fi.org? There are guys over these putting in replacement caps. I was impressed, but I'm no electrical wizard, so there's no way I'd attempt it.

Post some pics of your hot-rodded Freya!
 
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